Fort Royal is in Worcester, a City in England. It had a quiet history as a piece of open ground, until 3 September 1651, when as a defensive fort of the Royalists under King Charles II, it was overrun by the Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell. The remains of the high earthworks are very evident, in what is now a pleasant public park near the the Commandery Museum. Friends of Fort Royal is a group of neighbours set up to take an interest in the park and its wider area.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Wildlife in the Park

Last year on one Saturday afternoon a group of over 30 volunteers turned out to help with gardening, litter collectiing and hanging bird boxes made by pupils from the Royal Grammar School. The event atrracted lots of publicityin the local papers and was a real success. Even though it was late in the year to hang bird boes, at least three of the eleven were definitely used to rear young, and possibly another four, which gives encouragement for this year.The bird boxes and flowerbeds have enhanced the wildlife attracted to the area and there are suggestions to icorporate more changes to assist wildlife. One possibility is to set aside areas in the park that will be allowed to grow wild, attracting diffrent animals, insects and plants.For those interested in wildlife, a register is being kept of animals and birds spotted in the park or seen from the park and is posted on the notice boards. Please report your sitings by email to duncan sutcliffe xxduncan@sutcliffeinsurancexx.co.uk (leaving out the xx's which are there to help prevent junk emails). You don't need to be an expert as even a 'probable sighting is welcome. A couple of more interesting animals recorded recently include a number of sightings of a bird of prey that may be a sparrowhawk and sightings of bats as late as October and as early as February. The picture is from Gary Cox's web site and is not local.